Hewitt Homeschooling Resources Lightning Literature–A Review

When I think of literature studies, the first word to come to mind is definitely not lightning.  After using Hewitt Homeschooling Resources Lightning Literature program for the past several weeks, my opinion has changed greatly.  We have had the great privilege to try out and review the Lightning Literature and Composition American Mid-Late 19th Century .  This is a high school level course  (designed for students in grades 9-12).  Hewitt offers a huge age range of courses besides just high school.  You can explore the Hewitt Homeschooling Resources website to see all of the curriculum as well as to download sample lessons.  The course that we are using is located here on the Hewitt website.

      So, what exactly is included in Lightning Literature and Composition American Mid-Late 19th Century?  This curriculum focuses on literature that closely relates to American History during the Mid-Late 19th century.  Through their studies, students will read the following literary works in the following order:

• Harriet Beecher Stowe (novel: Uncle Tom's Cabin)
• Walt Whitman (selected poems from Leaves of Grass, text in the Guide)
• Bret Harte (short story, "The Outcasts of Poker Flat," text in the Guide)
• Mark Twain (novel: Huckleberry Finn)
• Paul Laurence Dunbar (selected poems, text in the Guide)
• Stephen Crane (novel: The Red Badge of Courage)
• Emily Dickinson (selected poems, text in the Guide)
• Jack London (novel: The Call of the Wild)

Through this curriculum, which can be covered in either a semester or a full year, students will explore theme, humor, description, point of view, figurative language, register, and sound in poetry. The Student's Guide is very thorough and provides for the student information about the authors, comprehension questions, writing exercises, discussion questions and project suggestions, reading lists appropriate to the period or subject, semester and full-year schedules, and a bibliography. All of the answers to the comprehension type questions are available for parents / teachers in the separate Teacher’s Guide.      

Our Thoughts:

     This course definitely had us ‘thinking outside the box.’  I have my degree in English, and really thought I was well read, but I had never read many of these selections.  I am really enjoying being able to explore new literary works.  My high schoolers (both boys and both not lovers of reading) have balked at the reading, but they know they have to do it for school.  We are taking things slowly this summer and will be digging in much more when we begin our school year in a few weeks. 
     The student guide we received is a non-consumable soft cover book.  It is so nice to have it non-consumable since I have 2 children who are using it.  It is 8 1/2 x 11, so it is typical workbook size.  I am considering taking it to our local office supply center and having holes drilled so it can be placed in a notebook.  I think that would be really convenient for study.  The guide contains a thorough introductory section which, although not a ‘required’ assignment, is a great way to give students an idea of what is in the book and how to use it.  The different units are designed to take the student around nine weeks to complete if following the year plan (which we are doing).  My students are in 10th grade and 12th grade this year, and this is their first experience with detailed literary analysis, so we are taking it slow.  They are not necessarily enjoying the reading, but the writing assignments are a different story.  In the first lesson alone, there are multiple different suggested writing assignments ranging from the more formal essay to creative writing.  It is great to be able to give the kids some choice in the type of writing they want to do. The Student Guide is very self-explanatory and thorough, so the kids are able to be very independent in their studies.
     The teacher’s guide is loose-leaf and binder ready. It is short, and basically just gives the teacher an outline of how to plan the course, the answers to the comprehension questions, and grading rubrics for writing assignments. This is such a self-guided course that the teacher guide can be concise and still be helpful.  I love the fact that I don’t have to be completely caught up on reading to be able to grade an assignment.
     The student guide and teacher’s guide are available separately through the Hewitt Homeschooling Resources website.  Conveniently, Hewitt offers an American Mid-Late 19th Century pack which contains the student guide, teacher’s guide, and all of the books needed to complete the study (either in the Student Guide or as stand alone novels).  The student guide alone retails for $29.95; the teacher’s guide alone retails for $2.95; and the pack retails for $51.96.  We only received the student and teacher’s guides, so we had to secure the books.  The four novels required for the course were very easy to find. I would recommend this course to any homeschoolers in high school.  It is a fabulous preparation for literary analysis and writing students will do in college. 

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     My friends on the Schoolhouse Review Crew have also been using and reviewing this product as well as many other products from Hewitt Homeschooling Resources.  If you would like to check out their reviews, just click on the graphic below.